Explore East Grinstead’s secret history through a fascinating selection of stories, facts and photographs.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

East Grinstead has an architectural heritage spanning seven centuries. M.J. Leppard's selection of one hundred of the town's buildings encompasses a diverse range of structures, from a boundary wall to a national treasure of the Arts and Crafts movement, and from what has been called 'an example of Gothic Revival architecture that no other country in Europe can equal' to the local McDonalds. For many of them, this book marks the first time that their stories have been told. The historic heart of East Grinstead is rich in medieval and later timber-framed buildings, which are justification for the town's outstanding conservation area classification. Prominent modern structures include a futuristic house from the 1960s and a state-of-the-art museum which, at the time of writing, is still under construction.

East Grinstead is a town halfway between London and the south coast. Two substantial villages—Ashurst Wood and Forest Row—also lie within the boundaries of its vast ancient parish. “It offers the most detailed, comprehensive and authoritative account of East Grinstead’s history ever produced ... On top of all that, the book is well illustrated ... and is very attractively produced.” Bulletin of the East Grinstead Society

"First published in Great Britain in 2004 by Greenhill Books, Lionel Leventhal Limited"--Title page verso.